Several Ways to Help You Get a Date
One of the frustrations of singles is spending weekends alone with a bag of chips and Netflix for company. When the time of year lends itself to weddings, parties and other social opportunities, the challenge is ‘get a date’ becomes even more daunting. Fortunately, there are several ways to remedy the situation.
Online dating is a popular method to meet other singles from the privacy of home. According to a 2012 Reuters survey, 40 million people in the United States have tried online dating. Two of the most popular online dating sights are eharmony.com and Match.com. Both sites require a monthly membership fee, typically in the $19.95-$49.95 range, depending on the special. eHarmony requires that a member complete a 400 word questionnaire. Matches are the selected and emailed to the member based on eHarmony’s compatibility factors.
The member does not have access to all the member profiles. With Match.com, an individual can view member profiles and even narrow the search by entering criteria. At the point that an individual wants to contact a member, the system will require registration and payment to proceed. In addition to eHarmony.com and Match.com, there are many free dating sites that allow members to post profiles and freely contact members without charge. One of the more popular sites is Plentyoffish.com (also known as POF). POF will ask users to fill out a Chemistry Test but completion is not required for registration. The advantage to online dating is that the singles pool is larger. However, the anonymity of communicating online can pose risks.
Another way to meet potential dates is through interests. Interest groups can include anything from a church single’s Bible study to a weekly meeting of photography lovers or tennis players to political or volunteer organizations. A web search or glance at a local newspaper or magazine can provide information on different groups. A popular online site, Meetup.com, allows users to enter location and interest and receive a list of meetings or meet-ups, in the area, many aimed at singles. The advantage to these groups is meeting those with a common passion. However, the groups can be small with few singles. There are also downsides to dating someone within a close-knit group and not having the date or relationship work out.
A novel idea is to throw a singles party by hosting an event and asking single friends to ask other single friends to attend. Like the good old-fashioned clothing swap, one person’s reject could be someone elses find. The idea works best in larger groups of singles although it still creates a small pool of potential dates to draw from. However, unlike online dating and interest groups, this approach gives the benefit of meeting people that friends know and can vouch for. Or an individual can cut to the chase and just asked to be fixed-up for the next social soiree. With a variety of tools available to meet potential suitors, the problem of cant get a date can now be easily solved.